Knowledge & resources

The focus of this workshop was to explore some of the tricky issues which can occur in collaborative cases, brainstorm solutions, and consider how to get more cases using this method over the finish line.

Family practice is changing now more rapidly than it ever has done before. Just imagine prior to March last year when the vast majority of court hearings were face-to-face, when online mediation and collaborative practice was rare, and the Family Mediation Council would not allow mediators to conduct mediation information and assessment meetings by Skype or Zoom, save in the most exceptional circumstances.

The recently launched Resolution ‘Wellbeing in Family Law Report’ makes sobering, if not unsurprising, reading.

• 89% of respondents have experienced negative wellbeing because of their work.

• 26% of respondents are currently considering leaving the profession due to concerns over wellbeing.

I was delighted to have been able to attend so many great sessions during the week of Resolution’s National Conference this year. As an enthusiastic collaborative practitioner and arbitrator, I was keen to sign up to the session on the new collaborative participation agreement, hosted by Angela Lake-Carroll and Adele Ballantyne.

In this section, you'll find Resolution's suite of resources for collaborative practitioners. This includes information on the scope of collaborative practice, how you become a collaborative practitioner, routes for professional development and much more.

A Financial Initial Assessment Meeting is a financial health check that is best carried out early in the collaborative journey

Conducting business over online video meetings will become the new normal during the COVID-19 pandemic. This addendum to the Participation Agreement for online video meetings will be hugely useful for members during this time.

Ruth Hare, Director of Reach Psychology Ltd and Associate Member of Resolution reveals how her personal experience of collaborative divorce led to an interest in lawyer well-being, revealed a new community of practice and led her career in an unexpected direction.

Nick Wyn-Williams, Partner at Rees Page who represented Ruth’s ex-husband, reflects on being part of ‘team Hare’, and his insights from having a mirror held up to the collaborative process by a psychologist.

As dispute resolution practitioners, we constantly find ourselves navigating private aspects of human relationships and emotions. An experienced family lawyer and mediator confided in me that she did not feel competent in handling the emotional aspects of disputes. As a psychologist, I often feel equally inadequate in dealing with the legal elements of family disputes. Our individual experiences with collaborative practice revealed how an integrated and interdisciplinary approach to dispute resolution can be mutually beneficial to our practice while also improving the quality of service for our clients.

In this podcast, Ian Hawkins, Mary Waring, and Phil O'Connor discuss the many benefits that can be obtained from including a financial neutral within a collaborative meeting.

Fiona Connah reports back on the seminar “The Rise of the Neutral – a systemic approach”, presented by Carolyn Hanes and Jane McCann, at the Dr Conference 2019.